The GP team spent the first half of this day around Mathare Valley Church (MVC). It was on this day that we met Pastor Karau and his family. At MVC, Pastor Karau, his son Steve, and others provide a clinic, education, food, daycare, etc to children in the slums. The people at MVC were the ones who showed us around the church, gave us a tour of Mathare, and invited us into their homes (like Wanja from the previous entry). I can't even begin to count all the people who are blessed by Pastor Karau and MVC's ministry. Children can come here to be taught, fed, and taken care of. Women with HIV can work with Wanja and others in Taraja where they make jewelry to sell. The building where MVC is was supposed to be a brothel; now, it is a place where God and His children dwell.
So it turns out that Pastor's Karau and his family bring their work home. What do I mean by that? The Karaus visioned and partnered together with Brian and Debbie Lee (the directors of the GP) to start Sanctuary of Hope (SOH). The Karaus and Lees take in children who were in critical need or conditions from the slums into 2 homes in a suburb on the outskirts of Nairobi. Currently, twenty-two children (one child, Esther, was rescued during the GP!) have been rescued from the slums into 2 homes (SOH1 and SOH2) where the Karaus and others educate, care for, and love them. Honestly speaking, I cannot for the life of me think of a more apt name for these homes than Sanctuary of Hope.
During the latter part of the day, the team traveled to Pastor Karau's home/SOH where we ate and then met 21 of the most beautiful kids I had ever seen (Esther had not moved in yet). When we entered the gate, there they were, dressed so cleanly and rehearsing Psalms and songs to us. Once the kids finished their routine, we proceeded to play with them in the yard for the next couple of hours.
Earlier in the day, when we were in MVC, Brian teared up as he told us that there is something downright wrong with seeing kids living in the slums where they barely have any food and no access to medical or educational services. He told us the starfish story: There was a beach lined with thousands of starfishes who had washed up ashore. One guy was throwing any starfish he saw back into the ocean and when his friend saw this, he scoffed, saying, "You'll never be able to make a difference."
The first guy threw another starfish into the ocean, looked up, then said, "It did for that one."
In the same way that there is something wrong with seeing kids living in extreme poverty in a slum, there is something right about seeing kids rescued from a slum into a home where they can grow, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. There is something so pure and beautiful about those kids and Sanctuary of Hope. They are 21 starfishes whom people cared enough to pick up and throw back into the ocean.
When it comes to social justice issues such as poverty, racism, etc, I admit that I know nothing about these issues. But here's what I do know: each "starfish" we meet and encounter is worth saving. In the end, I think that's what God desires as well: to see His love for us overflow from us so that we have no problem not making a difference; but instead, He desires to see us love and care for the individual lives we meet along the way.
To learn more about SOH, buy jewelry to support SOH, or receive more information about how to support this ministry, please visit www.pambatoto.com
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